Knocking in a birdie putt at the Gavilan College Golf Course may
soon be a thing of the past.
Knocking in a birdie putt at the Gavilan College Golf Course may soon be a thing of the past.
The Gavilan College Board of Trustees is eyeing the 25-acre parcel that now supports the Gavilan course for a variety of possible future uses, including a 10,000- to 15,000-square-foot university center.
The college recently hired a consultant for $6,500 to conduct a financial feasibility study that will help determine the best use of the land. The analysis will go on for about six weeks and is intended to provide the board with better information about possible land uses, said Gavilan College President Steve Kinsella.
“It’s a very small contract, but it could have big impacts,” he said. “(The study) will give the board more information on what the options are with that land.”
Although the analysis will identify several potential options, already floating around is a plan to convert the golf course into a university center, which would allow students in Hollister, Gilroy and Morgan Hill to obtain bachelor’s degrees from four-year public universities.
Currently, students living in the area who are working toward their bachelor’s degrees have to commute a considerable distance to institutions such as San Jose State University or California State University at Monterey Bay. By building the university center, Gavilan would be able to work with those colleges to offer students bachelor’s programs on Gavilan’s three campuses in Hollister, Gilroy and Morgan Hill.
The golf course, built in 1966 and located on the south end of the campus, is leased by the college for approximately $30,000 a year. The current contract will expire in 2007, and the board is expected to decide by the end of next year whether it wants to extend the lease or pursue other land uses.
Funding for the university centers is allocated in Measure E, which voters approved in March. The bond sets aside $39. 6 million specifically for the centers, so Gavilan essentially is obligated to construct them, although there is no deadline for completion.
“There are a lot of folks in this area who go to San Jose State,” Kinsella said. “By offering the programs down here, the other schools will have less demand on their facilities, which certainly are impacted, and it gives them an opportunity to serve residents more locally.”
Gavilan Trustee Deb Smith said because the study is still in its preliminary stages, it’s difficult to know what the best land use option is.
“It’s too premature to say at this point,” she said. “We’re just gathering information right now.”
Regardless of where the university center goes, Smith said she thinks it will be a valuable complement to Gavilan.
“I think it’s an ideal situation for folks that don’t want to worry about a commute. If there’s a bachelor’s program in the area they want to pursue, then it’s a win-win situation,” she said.
The idea for a university center launched about three years ago, when SJSU began offering courses for bachelor’s degrees at Gavilan’s Gilroy campus. At its high point, the program offered six different classes, but SJSU had to scale back several months ago due to budget constraints.
